Ornament construction



ORNAMENT CONS TRUCTI ON Filed Dec. 5, 1955 Patented Oct. 10, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ORNAMENT CONSTRUCTION Elliot J. Paris, Providence, R. I., va ssignor to Cohn & Rosenberger, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 5, 1935, Serial.No. 52,997

' 2 Claims. (o1. .401 ,140)

My present invention relates to the jewelry art, and has particular reference to ornament constructions suitable for use with brooches, clips, buckles and the like.

It is a principal object of my invention to provide a jewelry construction utilizing ornaments which may be selectively secured to the jewelry item.

A further object of my invention is to provide a jewelry construction using selectively insertable ornaments, which consists of a small number'of parts easily manufactured and is readily assembled, whereby any selected ornament, or a plurality of selected ornaments, may be releasably locked to the jewelry article by relatively unskilled operators, as for example clerks in department stores or the users themselves.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, my invention consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, and more specifically defined in the claims appended thereto.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a jewelry article, the figure illustrating a brooch equipped with selected ornaments such as initials;

Fig. 2 is a rear view thereof, parts being broken away;

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the article base;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section on the line 55 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional detail showing the relation of parts when the ornament is mounted in the base;

Fig. '7 is a perspective view of the novel ornament frame, one ornament being disclosed as mounted therein; and

Fig. 8 is a view of a modified form of base.

It has been found desirable to provide a jewelry article with an attachable frame in which selected ornaments, such as for example initial letters, may be removably positioned, the frame and the associated ornaments then being releasably locked in the article base, whereby any type of base, having any contour and shape, may be utilized to receive the selected ornaments.

I have therefore devised a construction which utilizes an article base having a recess, and a frame which fits into the recess, the frame being adapted to receive selected ornaments such as initial letters; the construction is designed to use a small number of parts, readily manufactured and assembled, whereby the completed jewelry article simulates an article in which the ornaments are formed as an integral part thereof.

I use an article base l0, which may be of any material, and preferably is of metal such as brass, the base having an opening ll formed therein with recesses l2 and IS in the upper and lower edges respectively and smaller recesses l4, 5 at the sides. The upper and lower recess walls are punched or stamped to provide catch notches or grooves l6, l1, and the side recess walls are punched or stamped to provide catch notches or grooves 18, I9.

An ornament frame 20 is adapted to fit into the opening II, and to lock therein, the frame having a central opening 2| with the upper edge 22 and a lower edge 23 each consisting of a fiat portion 24 and an upright portion 25 at right angles thereto. The upright portions 25 are provided with latch elements 26 and 21 projecting therefrom for locking engagement with the catch notches l6 and IT; and the sides 28 and 29 of the frame are formed to extend past the sides of the opening II and the recesses l4 and I5, and are provided with upright portions 30, 3| which are provided with latch elements 32, 33 for respective engagement with the catch notches I8 and I9 formed in the side walls of the article base. The upright portions 25 of the upper and lower edges have spacing lugs 34 struck therefrom, these spacing lugs projecting inwardly in spaced relation to the flat portions 24, and being resilient, whereby an ornament such as an initial 35 may be positioned in the frame by snapping its edges from the top, past the spacing lugs 34 so as to be releasably held in the frame. After selected ornaments are positioned in the frame, which as illustrated shows spaces for three initial letters, the frame with its ornaments are then snapped into the recesses l2, I3, l4 and I5, whereby the latch elements engage the catch notches or grooves so as to lock the frame and its ornaments in place, as illustrated in Fig. 6. The ornaments appear as an integral part of the frame when viewed from the front, as indicated in Fig. 1, but may be replaced or changed by removing the frame and replacing one or more of the ornaments therein.

With the above described construction, only three parts are used, namely a base, a frame, and an ornament or ornaments attached to be inserted in the frame, all these parts being of a very simple construction, preferably of stamped metal, and readily assembled by anyone. Any shape or style of base may be used, as indicated at 36 in Fig. 8, and any ornament either of metal or of other suitable material may be used, the frame releasably receiving the ornaments and retaining them in place and then being releasably mounted in the base; the recesses conceal the details of assembly.

While I have described a specific construction embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that desired changes in the formation of the parts, in the materials used for the parts, in the number and relative arrangement of the ornaments, and in the type of ornaments used, may be made to suit the requirements for different designs, without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a frame for receiving ornaments, said frame having upper and lower edges having portions in the plane of the frame, and portions perpendicular to said first portions, resilient spacing lugs extending inwardly from said second portions and spaced from said first portions, and an ornament adapted to seat in said frame and having side edges, the Width between said side edges being slightly greater than the distance between said spacing lugs, whereby the ornament may be placed over the frame lugs and its edges snapped past the frame lugs.

2. In combination, a frame for receiving ornaments, said frame having upper and lower edges having portions in the plane of the frame, and portions perpendicular to said first portions, resilient spacing lugs struck from said second portions and extending inwardly from said second portions and spaced from said first portions, and an ornament adapted to seat in said frame and having side edges, the width between said side edges being slightly greater than the distance between said spacing lugs, whereby the ornament may be placed over the frame lugs and its edges snapped past the frame lugs.

ELLIOT J. PARIS. 

